Hey, China - You Suck! Part II

Wednesday, August 13, 2008
We all know I think China sucks. But they've really screwed the pooch this time.

During the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, there was a song sung by a really cute young girl. Everyone went "Aww!"

Well, it turns out that the young girl wasn't really singing. She was lip-syncing. Because the youngster who could actually sing just wasn't cute enough to represent China on international television.

For some reason, I find this particular piece of asshattery to be especially fucked up.

China, you well and truly SUCK. My heart goes out to Yang Peiyi, the actual singer. How would you like it if you had a fabulous talent, but weren't "cute enough" to showcase during a national shindig like the Olympics? Christ.

Suck, suck, suck, you fucknuts.

28 comments:

Cindi in CO said...

I saw this on the news this morning, and I thought Yang Peiyi was cute as a button.

Asstards.

John the Scientist said...

Here are the girls side by side. I don't see that Pei Yi is that much less cute than Miao Ke.

This came from Politburo officials attending the rehearsal. Can you imagine the outcry if some Senator suggested this in the US?

But what do you expect from people who threw out 1000s of years of their culture with character simplifications that confuse people? My wife used to get into etymological arguments with Mainlanders in grad school, and she almost always won, even with a 5th grad Taiwanese education versus their Master's from China. It was not important that the changes were organic and made sense, it was important that the changes were made by the right people (ignorant Communist peasants who supported Mao, versus those disgraced scholars).

Now you see why my wife's comments about the PRC are usually prefaced by "damn Communists".

John the Scientist said...

As an aside on stupid transliterations, I see a lot of people reading the lip synching girl's name as rhyming with "karaoke", when it should be Miao like the English "Meow", and "Kuh".

Steve Buchheit said...

It was pretty obvious on the TV that the little girl was lip synching, so I'm not exactly shocked. For some reason I'm cueing on the movie, "Singing in the Rain."

Random Michelle K said...

After seeing the pictures, I'm not surprised.

The real singer looks quite a bit like my good friend X. She has a very round face, and a couple other similar features.

My other Chinese friends told me X (who I thought was beautiful) was not considered attractive, and had a hard time find a boyfriend, and ended up somewhat marrying beneath her intelligence and education.

So apparently never mind the fact my friend X is intelligent and witty and hilarious and well-educated... her round face meant she wasn't considered attractive.

mom in northern said...

Then the is the speculation as to the "True" ages of the young "lady" gymnasts

Bella was not buying it..

Eric said...

What, this surprises people after the the CGI fireworks used during the opening ceremony? Seeing as how they spent a year preparing to humbug not just the worldwide TV audience but also the people in the stadium who were watching the large-screen monitors, I'd almost be disappointed if they'd actually had a real kid really singing.

Matter of fact, do we actually know if Lin Miaoke really exists? Maybe she has "the perfect face" because she was rendered that way by a secret team of Chinese computer animators. Ever think of that? Hm?

Jeri said...

Maybe the entire Chinese women's (that being a very generous term) gymnastic's team is a CGI-generated rendering. It would explain a few things, like moves that seem to defy physics. ;)

John the Scientist said...

More links for you with more flattering pictures of Yang Pei Yi. I think that the most frequently seen picture is deliberately distorted (it looks as if it were horizontally stretched) by the PRC press organs to try to justify their position.

Pei Yi looks more Taiwanese than Northern Chinese to me, I wonder if that played a part in the decision?

This blog entry talks about Chinese whitewashing in the press. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but a lot of the Chinese blogs that showed up on a Google search of their names (楊沛宜 and 林妙可) pulled up dead links.

John the Scientist said...

"Matter of fact, do we actually know if Lin Miaoke really exists? Maybe she has "the perfect face" because she was rendered that way by a secret team of Chinese computer animators. Ever think of that? Hm?"

All kidding aside, I did. But she's a veteran child model / actress who's been in TV commercials.

Janiece said...

I think she's cute as a button.

Eric said...

All kidding aside, I did. But she's a veteran child model / actress who's been in TV commercials.

Yeah, well Max Headroom was in TV commercials and had his own show.

:-P

Janiece said...

And he also resembles Jay Titus!

::win::

John the Scientist said...

Actually, as my wife points out, the firecrackers and the singer aren't the biggest scandal. This is. And the fact that the American coaches aren't so much angry that the Chinese are using underage girls, they're angry that they can't. I think it's just about time to hang it up on the "sport" of gymnastics (they're warm-up exercises, not a sport) and toss them out of the Olympics.

Janiece said...

Hm. I would disagree pretty vehemently that gymnastics isn't a "sport."

It's true that it's subjective rather than objective, but the athletic prowess required in order to compete is astounding to me. (Says the girl with virtually no athletic ability).

John the Scientist said...

Yeah, I know YMMV. My idea of a sport involves an objective scoring system, which usually means a ball of some sort or a finish line, high jump bar, etc. (or getting to hit the other team, and the last guy standing wins...).

Judges should play a part in a sport only in the in/out of bounds sense. Otherwise the system is rife for gaming. You won't catch my little girl anywhere close to a gymnastics studio (it helps that she'd rather go fishing with me, though, I don't know what I'd do if here interests ran in that direction, but anything is open up to and including forbidding her to go.) The training is not good for growing girls, especially their joints.

Janiece said...

John, I'm not debating that world class gymnastics training is bad for growing bodies - clearly it is. And many of the girls in question aren't doing it because they love it.

But there is no doubt that they're athletes.

Random Michelle K said...

John, I hope you're not having a blanket objection to *all* "girl" activities.

I loved my years of dance classes. And wouldn't trade them for anything.

Of course I also think boys should take dance classes, because they're good for balance and rhythm and body sense (just imagine how much clumsier I'd be without ten years of dance classes. But mostly there's something innately fun about moving your body to music--a joy that I've kept since those years.

John the Scientist said...

Oh yes, you can be an athlete and still not be engaged in a sport. I read a very humorous article on golf saying that Tiger Woods is an athlete, just not engaged in a sport (and pictures of other, overweight golfers were used to back up the statement). I grudgingly admit golf into the world of "sport" because it has an objective scoring system, and involves some physical activity (no, poker is not a sport).

Michelle - dance is fine, as long as it's not competitive. (I do not object to competition, just to competition that compromises the health of little kids).

But I don't have to worry, becuase the 3 biggest topics of conversation between us are about Dinosaurs, Submarines, and WWII (the latter 2 are often combined, and Howard Gilmore the current household hero.

Yeah, we're strange...

Eric said...

It's funny: I had a reaction similar to John's when I heard about the weightlifting on NPR this morning: "Since when is picking up something and holding it a sport?" Not to deny the physical prowress, or the fact that a weightlifter could kick my ass... well hell, could probably kick my ass by falling on me--but I engage in noncompetitive lifting things and not dropping them all the time, and I'm one of the least athletic people you're liable to ever meet.

I've tended to sort of assume gymnastics was a sport, but I'm willing to consider it an "athletic activity," depending on your criteria. Golf flat out doesn't count as a sport in my book--sure, there's competitive scoring, we have the same thing in Scrabble and Backgammon, thank you much. Golf is a game, like Bridge or, for that matter, Halo. I don't consider figure skating a sport, not to take anyway anything from skaters.

I am, I guess, nothing if I'm not inconsistent, eh? Blurry criteria and double standards abound. Oh--bowling: bowling is not a sport, either.

I don't know that I'd throw gymnastics out of the Olympics just because some countries cheat. They cheat at track and field, too. For a while, there were more bearded women in the Olympics than there ever were in sideshows during the golden age of carnivals.

Oh, Ping-Pong. I don't think they have it in the Olympics, but it's not a sport. Just saying.

Janiece said...

Eric? Ping-Pong has been an Olympic "sport" since 1988.

The head explosions may now commence...

John the Scientist said...

Yes, Eric, weightlifting, like gymnastics, is a training exercise you do to improve your performance in a real sport.

John the Scientist said...

"Golf flat out doesn't count as a sport in my book--sure, there's competitive scoring, we have the same thing in Scrabble and Backgammon, thank you much."

Thank you. I've been looking for an excuse to exclude Golf from my definition of "sport". The activity is so minimal - especially if carts are used.

Eric said...

Ping-Pong... is a sport?

Proposal for the 2012 Olympics, then: it is grossly unfair that bar sports are only represented by Ping-Pong. Therefore, the new 2012 Olympic lineup of events shall exclusively consist of:

*Foosball
*Pool and Billiards
*Karaoke
*Men's Freestyle Hookups
*Women's Score Free Drinks Without Going Home With Anyone Judo
*Wii

See you in '12!

Eric said...

Oh and Ping-Pong, of course.

Janiece said...

Eric, I'm only down with that if "air hockey" is included.

Because I rule the air hockey table.

Eric said...

Oh, hell yeah air hockey is included! I'm embarrassed I left it out!

John the Scientist said...

You also forgot the Men's Lame Pick-up Line Decathlon.

And the Greco-Roman Bouncer Wrestling.